Have you ever banged your snatch so hard or so many times that you ended up with a sore or bruised FUPA?
Chances are the answer is yes, if you’re doing it right.
Until now, I usually just kept going until I just get numb to the pain, but I’ve seen people go as far as to tuck a towel into their pants to use as a pad. I mean, I guess that’ll work, although it looks somewhat silly. Born Primitive’s Snatch Shorts hope to cure the case of the banged out FUPA, all while doing it with a touch of class and functionality. Their product advertises that you’ll “PR WITHOUT THE PAIN”. For the sake of pubic bones across the globe, let’s hope that’s true.
The Snatch Shorts are basically like any other good compression short, made of 80% nylon and 20% spandex. The kicker is that in the front pubic area of the shorts, there’s a spot of flexible foam padding; think Nike Pro Combat padded compression shorts for football. The idea (obviously), is that you get an extra layer of protection where the bar should meet your hips during a snatch. I know this sounds kind of weird, like you’d get annoyed of walking around all day with this pad on your FUPA, but honestly, you’ll probably forget it’s there, until you snatch. Comfort wise, the shorts are just as solid and comfortable as you would get with pretty much any other compression short; and they hold your junk in place well.
Let’s be honest, we’re not here to hear about another pair of compression shorts. Do the shorts work as advertised? Do they leave your pubic bone unscathed?
Yes and no.
During my testing, I didn’t handle any extremely heavy weight. I’m getting over a wrist injury and just getting back into the swing of things snatching. Another plus to the snatch shorts is that they actually do serve as a good target/reminder of where you should be making contact with your body. I never thought twice snatching as the bar pretty much landed in the same spot every time. The padding definitely deadens the blow of the bar to your pubic region. Where I would cringe at the thought of making contact before, I didn’t really mind as much using the snatch shorts. I would definitely make sure to wear my snatch shorts from here on out on heavy Oly days.
On the flip side, you have to know that while the padding softens the blow a bit, it doesn’t fully stop it. If you’ve got weight on that bar and you’re going to make contact, you’re still going to feel it. But hey, there’s nothing like banging the hell out of a snatch to make you feel alive is there? I still ended up with a sore spot on my FUPA, but that could also be attributed to not snatching for a long time and the area just getting used to things again. It definitely wasn’t as bad as it’s been in the past.
At $40 bucks, are the Snatch Shorts worth it? Hell yes. A good pair of compression shorts will almost run you the same amount of money. If you value your Oly lifting and the condition your FUPA needs to be in for activities outside of Oly lifting, you owe it to yourself to pick up a pair of Snatch Shorts. They might look and sound gimmicky, but they do actually work and they’re worth a shot. As for sizing, I wear a medium in the Snatch Shorts comfortably and I wear a size 32 pretty spot on; the sizing chart on Born Primitive’s website should be accurate.